Czech National Bank Grows Stock Position in Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN)

Czech National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Global Payments Inc. (NYSE:GPN) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,641 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,826 shares during the quarter. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Global Payments were worth $4,704,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Global Payments by 18.8% during the first quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 524 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $70,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,752 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $635,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Global Payments by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,930 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $258,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of Global Payments by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 453 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lifted its position in shares of Global Payments by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC now owns 34,435 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $4,603,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on GPN shares. William Blair upgraded Global Payments to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Stephens cut their target price on Global Payments from $145.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price target on Global Payments from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $150.00 to $140.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Global Payments from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Payments has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $141.92.

Global Payments Stock Performance

Global Payments stock traded up $0.33 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $102.39. 474,749 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,296,346. The stock has a market cap of $26.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.48 and its 200 day moving average is $115.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 0.92. Global Payments Inc. has a 52-week low of $91.60 and a 52-week high of $141.77.

Global Payments (NYSE:GPN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The business services provider reported $2.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.03. Global Payments had a net margin of 13.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. The firm had revenue of $2.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.32 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.48 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Global Payments Inc. will post 11.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Payments Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Global Payments’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.84%.

Insider Activity at Global Payments

In other news, CAO David M. Sheffield sold 1,651 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.73, for a total transaction of $166,305.23. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 20,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,087.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.98% of the company’s stock.

Global Payments Company Profile

Global Payments Inc provides payment technology and software solutions for card, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through two segments, Merchant Solutions and Issuer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization, settlement and funding, customer support, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security, and consolidated billing and reporting services.